I came across a couple of interesting articles regarding Facebook pages and the marketing strategies behind converting a “Like” into a Buy. The area is of particular interest to me in that I have a small, (and I mean tiny,) artisan business creating feather jewelry, and my Facebook page (coughwww.facebook.com/morcouturecough--I’m not shamelessly giving myself plug or anything,) is my sole method of advertising. The first of the two articles, discussed the power shift from brand to the consumer, and the death of the advertising campaign. The second discussed recent market studies and surveys done assessing how consumers actually interact with Facebook Pages.
In Ad Campaigns Are Dead[1], the author identified the relatively new need to understand the social influence on your customer, instead of actually knowing your customer him or herself. If you can reach these influencers, they become word of “mouse” advertisers in and of themselves. New issues to be examined include ways to reach the Friends of the X number of Fans a page has; how to engage consumers emotionally through the Page interface; and how to push online behavior of Liking something into offline purchase behavior.
The main thought that I had as I read the article, was that perhaps the advertising campaign isn’t dead after all. Perhaps the campaign just needs to be seamlessly integrated into the Page interface. If a storyline can be conveyed across print, video, and radio—why not Facebook? Personally, I have seen very few efforts by brands to market a story, emotion, or feeling with their Facebook Page. What if, instead of clicking “Like” on BMW, you clicked “Like” on Diesel has ch-changed, the new BMW diesel ad campaign? Visitors to the page would be greeted by the song “Changes” with the assistance of a music add-in, and would be invited to share their own personal stories of “change.” If the message the brand wants to convey isn’t “I like BMW,” but “the new BMW diesel is changing the way you think about diesel,” then that should be evident on its Facebook Page. In turn, the message that is conveyed via the Page, is the one that will then be conveyed by the “Like”-er to the next customer. Consistency is not a new lesson for brands employing a marketing strategy; there is no reason for brands to forget this when using a newer platform such as Facebook.
The second article, Social Media Marketing Research[2], featured data from recent studies showing that 6/10 Facebook users who click “Like” on a brand’s Page are more likely to both buy products from that brand, and almost more importantly, recommend the brand to others. Interestingly, the fans most likely to buy are those in the 55+ age group. Of all “Like”-ers, 70% would prefer their preferred brands to communicate with them more frequently via status updates, and are attracted to the idea of receiving “exclusive” information from such updates that is unavailable to non-“Like”-ers. Personally, the desire for “exclusive” info or benefits rang true to me—especially relating to local offerings. I often “Like” local restaurants to see their daily specials, or local day spas to see their occasional ½ off manicure specials. Allowing its fans access to such information is an excellent way to increase a fan base as word of mouth both increases brand recognition, and creates buzz through word of mouth reasons for more Facebook users to become Fans.
I may even try to put that idea into effect myself.
Interesting read!
ReplyDeleteI often find that when I "like" something, I come to regret it. I get so much spam and non-sense, that I often regret it. I suppose that I log onto Facebook less than other--and far less than some I know--so, when I only check my box once a week or so, it piles up.
I assume I am being counter-intuitive, because I imagine that this medium has the potential to become a tremendous resource for data-driven marketing.
The BMW idea was really cool--good thinking!
Tim Smith
Great Post!
ReplyDeleteIt is so interesting to be able to witness a time when so many companies are scrambling to try and find a way to leverage such a powerful social medium for their own benefit. I agree that companies need to become more creative and engaging with their Facebook content. Despite its relatively recent establishment as a global social network, I think that companies' attitudes toward Facebook is generally something along the lines of "As long as we have a Facebook Page" we are doing what we need to and are able to "listen" to our followers.
However, there is so much more potential to be unlocked! Companies have the opportunity to actually communicate with their fans through the featuring of exlusive content or the establishment of brand characters that personify the brand (i.e. Old Spice). I think that social networks provide an ideal platform for firms to create true Brand Communities. Such communities used to take years and years to create networks among interested parties, however, given the advent of technology, such communities can be formulated almost instantaneously! What an opportunity.
Great read Natasha thanks!
ReplyDeleteConcerning facebook, I happened to work with it in my last internship and the problem is that the limitation enforced by the company are still huge. When you want to do it the right way you need a lot of authorizations and advices. facebook is huge but is, as internet at its beginning, a mess. A mess getting tied more and more as they grow, but still a mess.
It is new and its evolving from one day to another. Brands have to invest a lot to be able to keep up with a good facebook page. In my last internship I learned this interesting figure, on average, a company has to invest $3 for 1 like.
Expensive! But maybe worth it, this is the problem with the social media, its still hard to figure what is the real impact in the stores. But as facebook is getting as common as reading a magazine, it is true that brands really need to be there.
Barthelemy
Thanks for the article Natasha, very interesting.
ReplyDelete